Department of Teratology
Present studies
- Testing of harmful chemical and physical factors and estimation of their minimum embryotoxic doses using a chick embryotoxicity screening test;
- mechanism of development of the cleft beak in chick embryos and its possible prevention and reparation;
- clinical/epidemiological studies searching for the causes underlying the origin of orofacial clefts in humans, based on a critical analysis of case- and family-history data;
- monitoring of the newborn sex ratio as a tool for detecting ecological accidents.
The studies bring new data about the ethiopathogenesis of developmental defects that help in the prevention of inborn anomalies in humans.
Schematic of the tooth pattern of adult and embryonic mice.
(A) Adult mice have one incisor and three molars separated by a toothless diastema in each jaw quadrant.
(B) A schematic comparison of the tooth pattern in a jaw quadrant of adult and embryonic mice. In contrast to adult mice, we found that mouse embryos have rudimentary tooth primordia in the prospective diastema (green). In the anterior part of the diastema (light green), either rudimentary small placodes/buds (D1-D5) or an epithelial thickening (dashed line) develop in the maxilla or mandible, respectively. In the posterior part of diastema (dark green), two rudimentary buds are the most prominent primordia in the cheek region at early stages. Later on, D1-D5 disappear, R1, R2 and MS regress, while R2 is incorporated into the first molar (M1). I - incisor; M2 and M3 – the second and third molars, respectively.
The percentage of boys among infants born in the Czech Republic in each November during 1950–2005.
Note the only exception – the percentage of newborn boys was less than 50 % in November 1986, indicating that fewer boys were born than girls.
Schematic maps of the Czech Republic showing the situation after the Chernobyl accident.
(A) Country regions are delineated: CB – Central Bohemia; EB - East Bohemia; NB - North Bohemia; NM - North Moravia; P - Prague; SB - South Bohemia; SM - South Moravia; WB - West Bohemia. The black arrows show the passage of the first radioactive cloud over the country on April 30, 1986. The colors indicate the intensity of the rainfall measured from 07: 00 hours on April 30 until 07: 00 hours on May 1.
(B) Distribution and levels of radiation represented by Cs-137; note that the highest radiation levels were in North and South Moravia, which reflects the areas of rainfall at the time the radioactive cloud passed over the country. The lowest radiation levels were recorded in the areas outside the passage of the radioactive cloud - in North and West Bohemia, where rain was absent or minimal.
(C) The percentage of missing boys in each region during November 1986.
